Time Management: Getting it Wrong!

When I ask small business owners to tell me which they believe is the highest priority, the vast majority chooses people. “Our people are our most important resource.”

Is this really true?

Frequently, small business owners have so much work to do that setting priorities becomes a challenge. With today’s technology, it’s easy to carry your computer and phone around and work in your kitchen, living room, or at your local coffeehouse. The same goes for having a regular schedule, whether you work days, evenings, or from midnight to 6 a.m. Get up at roughly the same time every day and work out a routine. With all that being said, it’s great to have systems and technology to help with the daily activities and your priorities, but again, what about the people?

But how do you prioritize people into your time management process?

If a company wants to avoid having it’s people feel like they are not important then they need to make sure that there processes and structures (systems) are not overriding people in terms of priority. Yet it’s true that without clearly defined process and structure (systems) that are needed to help them become successful, we still can take capable, well-meaning people, leaving them to figure things out on their own, and set them up to be victims of failure, and if we have prioritize systems over people, then we place the blame on them for their miserable performances.

To add insult to this injury, we fire them?

Our priority needs to be people first then systems, but here’s the catch you need to develop the system first. Remember systems run the business and people run the systems. So when developing your systems keep in mind that at some point a person will be needed to use that system to become successful and inspired to do more.

The truth: the primary obligation of any business is to develop the concise, clear system and structure by which their people can transform and succeed.